Today I’m showing a set of six, small, layered cotton pieces, each of which has been sashiko stitched. As you can tell from a quick glance, a girl in old Japan was being taught to stitch and these are her small practice pieces.Common stitches are being practiced here, and likely you’ve already seen these stitches on sashiko textiles: the stepped design on the lower, left, above is the persimmon flower motif. The larger design on the right, above, is a variation on another common pattern, the asa no ha or hemp leaf.And here are the backs. Pretty clean work for a novice, wouldn’t you say?

The larger pieces measure around 5 1/2″ x 6″ or 14 cm x 15.25 cm and the smaller pieces measure about 3 1/4″ x 3 1/2″ or 8 cm x 9 cm each. Of course they made from a cotton base and cotton thread–and they probably date to somewhere just before the middle of the twentieth century.